Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association


Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, is the association that oversees public high school sporting contests in the state of Maryland. Organized after World War II in 1946, the MPSSAA is made up of public high schools from each of Maryland's 23 counties and independent city of Baltimore City, which joined the association in 1993 when its public high schools withdrew at the orders of a new Superintendent of Public Instruction in the Baltimore City Public Schools from the earlier longtime athletic league, the Maryland Scholastic Association which was founded in 1919. The MSA had been composed of public high schools in the City of Baltimore and private / religious / independent schools on the secondary level in the City of Baltimore and its metropolitan area and the surrounding central Maryland region. It was one of the few state-level interscholastic athletic leagues in the nation composed of both public and private/religious/independent secondary schools. After the Baltimore City public high schools withdrew from the MSA, the remaining private/religious/independent schools conferred and organized two parallel regional/state-wide athletic leagues with sports competition and exercise activities with one for young men and the other for young women. These were the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland which endured today. All three state-wide athletic leagues, two for private/religious/independent secondary schools and one for co-ed public high schools exist today marrying on the proud traditions, memories and championships of the old Maryland Scholastic Association - one of the oldest state athletic leagues for secondary schools in the country.
The current MPSSAA includes nearly 200 public high schools, with more than 110,000 student-athletes participating in 24 sports. The Maryland State Board of Education establishes the rules and regulations governing the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association athletic programs and functions under the Division of Instruction of the Maryland State Department of Education. All qualified public high schools in Maryland in the 23 counties who qualify under rules and regulations may become members of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.
The purpose of the Association is to promote, direct, and control all interscholastic activities of high school students; to establish, maintain, and enforce regulations to assure that all such activities are part of and contribute toward the comprehensive educational program of the state of Maryland; to work with the state department of education in the development of the program to safeguard the physical, mental, and moral welfare of high school students and protect them from exploitation.

Sponsored Sports

Team Sports
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  • Field Hockey
  • Football
  • Soccer – Girls and Boys
  • Volleyball
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  • Baseball
  • Lacrosse – Girls and Boys
  • Softball
Individual sports
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  • Indoor Track – Girls and Boys
  • Swimming & Diving – Girls and Boys
  • Wrestling
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2013-2014 MPSSAA Officers

Past Presidents

1947-48....................William Brish
1949-50....................William Brish
1950-51............George Carrington
1951-52............George Carrington
1952-53..................Arthur Ramey
1953-54......................Ellery Ward
1954-55..............Crescent J. Bride
1955-56............Stephan A. Lerda
1956-57................Edward Semler
1957-58..............Charles Hudson
1958-59..............Warren R. Evans
1959-60..............Robert E. Pence
1960-61..............Charles R. Berry
1961-62....Vincent C. Holochwost
1962-63........William J. Callaghan
1963-64..G. Wayne Burgemeister
1964-65..........William E. Dykes Jr.
1965-66......................Jack Willard
1966-67..................Edward Finzel
1967-68..............Harold S. Martin
1968-69..............Crescent J. Bride
1969-70................Warren Squires
1970-71....................Marvin C. Joy
1971-72..........John E. Molesworth
1972-73................Robert Melville
1973-74......................Albert Cesky
1974-76........................Earl Hersh
1976-78..............Robert M. Foster
1978-80............Mildred H. Murray
1980-82..............Robert E. Pence
1982-84..........................Jim Heins
1984-86........................Roy Comer
1986-88............Clarence Johnson
1988-90..................W. Cecil Short
1990-92....................Chuck Brown
1992-94..................Patricia Barry
1994-96............Ronald J. Belinko
1996-98..............Donald E. Cooke
1998-00..............Mary Etta Reedy
2000-02..................Marlene Kelly
2002-04................Robert P. Wade
2004-06..........................Jay Berno
2006-08........................David Byrd
2008-10..................Andrew Roper
2010-12................William Beattie

Member High Schools

Due to the state's unique geography, Maryland high school athletics is divided into nine districts by the MPSSAA for purposes of organizing athletic activities and postseason tournaments. MPSSAA member schools compete within geographic regions and are divided into leagues across the state. In total, there are five conferences and six counties competing together to form a league, but remaining independent.

Classifications

The MPSSAA's 197 member schools are arranged by classification to ensure that schools compete on a regular basis with other schools in the geographic area of a similar size. The classifications are 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A.

Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference

Bayside Conference

Monocacy Valley Athletic League

Southern Maryland Athletic Conference

Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference

Independents

Anne Arundel County League

The following member schools have won state championships since the MPSSAA expanded in 1993:

Boys Basketball Champions

Since 1993, Baltimore City League members have won a combined 35 MPSSAA state boys basketball titles. During that time, Prince George's County ranks second among all MPSSAA leagues with 17 state championships. Baltimore County teams have won 10 titles, while Montgomery County League teams have won nine. Teams from the Eastern Shore have won eight state titles over the last 22 seasons, most in the 1A classification. MVAC members have earned three state title wins. Howard County and UCBAC teams boast two state championships each since 1993. The SMAC and Western Maryland-based Allegany have won the final two of the 88 state titles earners in the four classifications over the last 22 seasons. The Anne Arundel County League hasn't won a boys basketball state title since 1990 until 2015 when Meade High School defeated Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in the 4A State title game on March 14, 2015.
TeamState titlesYears won
Dunbar151993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Randallstown51995, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007
Lake Clifton
Milford Mill		41995, 1999, 2009, 2012
1994, 2010, 2011, 2013
City College
Friendly
Springbrook
T. Johnson
New Town		32009, 2010, 2014
1998, 2003, 2004
2008, 2009, 2010
1997, 1999, 2004
2007, 2015, 2016
Northwestern
Potomac		21997, 1999
2005, 2014
Aberdeen
Allegany
Cambridge/SD
Central
DuVal
Forestville
Surrattsville
Edmondson-Westside
Patterson
Baltimore Poly
Perry Hall		12000
1996
1993
1996
1994
1995
1997
2017
2017
2017 2018 2019
2017